Letter Boxing
Created on : January 8, 2024 13:21
Denotation
Letter-boxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting video-graphic image has mattes empty space above and below it; these mattes are part of each frame of the video signal.
Description
In the film industry, "letterboxing" refers to the practice of presenting a widescreen film or video within a frame that does not fill the entire screen. This results in black bars or "letterboxes," appearing at the top and bottom of the image, effectively narrowing the aspect ratio. The purpose of letterboxing is to preserve the original widescreen composition of the film when it is being presented on a screen with a different aspect ratio.
Films are often shot in various aspect ratios and when these films are shown on different screens or formats (such as television or streaming platforms), the aspect ratio may not match. Letterboxing is a method used to maintain the integrity of the original composition by including the entire image within the frame, even if it means that some of the screen is left unused.
For example, if a film was originally shot in a widescreen format like cinema scope (2.35:1 aspect ratio) and is later shown on a standard 4:3 television screen, letterboxing would be used to display the entire width of the film within the narrower television frame. This ensures that the viewer sees the film as the film director intended, without cropping or stretching the image.
It's worth noting that with the advent of widescreen televisions and displays, letterboxing is less common for newer content, as these screens can often accommodate a variety of aspect ratios without the need for black bars.